Hyland and Ryan claim Dublin Half Marathon wins
Women's winner Meghan Ryan from Dublin after the 2026 Irish Life Dublin Half Marathon, which took place on Sunday 20th September in Phoenix Park, marking the final event of the 2026 Irish Life Dublin Race Series. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
James Hyland and Meghan Ryan claimed victories at the Irish Life Dublin Half Marathon on Sunday as thousands of runners took to the streets of the capital.
Hyland showed an impressive change of gears over the final mile to win in 1:08:52, leading home over 6,500 finishers.
“There were four of us together until the last mile and then I kicked on a bit and closed hard,” he said. “My background is 5000m and steeplechase on the track so I’m pretty new to the roads, and this is really my first year on the road properly."
Irish international mountain runners Eddie O’Connor and Matthew McConnell completed the men's podium, clocking respective personal bests of 1:09:08 and 1:09:32.
Ryan clocked 1:16:46 to take the women's title, the Rathfarnham athlete also claiming victory in the Dublin Half Marathon Road Championship, with Ruby Wall second in 1:17:51 and Sarah Diamond third in 1:19:41.
“I’m delighted to win," said Ryan. "The atmosphere was incredible and the Dublin Marathon crew always put on a great race. I feel I’ve had a tough year and coming back to win something like this is brilliant. It’s so nice to be back running well, especially so close to the (Dublin) marathon."
Three-time Paralympian Greta Streimikyte clocked a new world best for the T13 women’s half marathon, her time of 1:20:59 bettering the previous mark by three minutes.
Meanwhile at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Irish marathon record holder Peter Lynch finished 44th in the men's half marathon, clocking 1:02:10.
Sweden’s Andreas Almgren set a European record of 58:06 to take victory, while Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich clocked 1:05:15 to win the women's title, a world record in a women-only race.
On Saturday, Darragh McElhinney broke the Irish road 5km record, clocking 13:22 to finish 16th and surpass the 13:26 mark set by Alistair Cragg in 2012.
McElhinney’s performance came in a loaded men’s 5km won by Eritrea’s Dawit Seare in a national record of 12:56, just ahead of Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who surrendered the lead in the final 100 metres.
“The national record was one of the main aims for me today," said McElhinney. "It was a little bit difficult as it was windy out there and I think that affected all the times. I'm really proud of how I ran. I ran well, I was in decent company. It is probably my best run of the summer."
Brian Fay finished 38th in the same race in 13:48.
Sarah Healy led the Irish challenge in the women's mile, finishing 13th in 4:32.98, with Laura Nicholson 21st in 4:36.64. France’s Agathe Guillemot took victory in 4:22.74.
"It was definitely poor from me but I'm just done, I'm very tired," said Healy. "I don't have much left and I felt awful running, so it's time for a holiday."
Cathal Doyle was the leading Irish finisher in the men’s mile, coming home 18th in 3:58.40, while recent European 1500m bronze medallist Andrew Coscoran faded late in the race and finished 41st in 4:07.95.
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